U.S. wiretaps surged 19% in '04; no requests denied

WASHINGTON — When police snoop on suspects, the old-fashioned desk phone is about as useful as a rusty revolver. Now, detectives say they need high-tech wiretaps to track cell phones, pagers, and hand-held e-mail devices — and judges are granting their requests.

The number of secret court-authorized wiretaps across the country surged by 19 percent last year, records show. No applications were rejected.

About nine of every ten wiretaps authorized by state and federal courts last year were for personal mobile devices, a category not even measured until 2000.

State and federal judges approved 1,710 applications for wiretaps of wire, oral or electronic communications last year, and four states — New York, California, New Jersey and Florida — accounted for three of every four surveillance orders, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That agency is required to collect the figures and report them to Congress.

The numbers, released Thursday, do not include court orders for terror-related investigations under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, which reached a record 1,754 warrants last year, according to the Justice Department.

In non-terrorist criminal investigations, federally approved wiretaps increased 26 percent in a year, to 730 applications, while state judges approved 980 wiretaps, an increase of 13 percent.

Department of Justice spokesman Kevin Madden said the numbers reflect "an increase in the resources geared toward targeting very serious federal and state offenses for which electronic surveillance is often the most, and sometimes the only, effective investigative method."

Timothy Edgar, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said traditional law enforcement work is catching up with increases in anti-terror wiretaps.

"We're still seeing a huge trend toward increased surveillance," said Edgar.

Evan Barr, a former federal prosecutor in New York City, now in private practice, said authorities are responding to changes in the ways criminal suspects use technology.